carnal

English

Etymology

From Middle English carnal, from Old French charnel, from Late Latin carnālis (“fleshy”), from oblique stem of Latin carō, carnis (“meat, flesh”) +‎ -ālis (whence -al).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑɹnəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)nəl

Adjective

carnal (comparative more carnal, superlative most carnal)

1. Relating to the physical and especially sexual appetites or activities.
   • 1941, George Ryley Scott, Phallic Worship: A History of Sex and Sex Rites in Relation to the Religions of All Races from Antiquity to the Present Day, London: T. Werner Laurie, page 29:

     At the town of Mendes, in the principal temple, there was a living male goat, with which, if the statement of Herodotus is to be accepted, naked female worshippers actually had carnal intercourse.

2. Worldly or earthly; temporal.
3. Of or relating to the body or flesh.

Derived terms

• carnalism
• carnalist
• carnality
• carnalization
• carnalize
• carnal knowledge
• carnally
• carnalness
• hypercarnal
• noncarnal
• uncarnal

Related terms

• incarnate
• incarnation
• reincarnate
• reincarnation

Translations

relating to the physical and especially sexual appetites

• Arabic: جَسَدُيّ (jasaduyy)
• Bulgarian: плътски (bg) (plǎtski)
• Catalan: carnal (ca)
• Esperanto: fivolupta
• Finnish: himokas (fi)
• French: charnel (fr)
• German: fleischlich, körperlich (de), sexuell (de), sinnlich (de)
• Greek: σαρκικός (el) (sarkikós)
• Old English: flǣsċlīċ
• Persian: تنانه (tanâne)
• Polish: cielesny (pl)
• Portuguese: carnal (pt)
• Russian: чувственный (ru) (čuvstvennyj), плотский (ru) (plotskij)
• Spanish: carnal (es), sexual (es), concupiscente (es), libidinoso (es)
• Welsh: cnawdol (cy)

worldly or earthly; temporal

• Bulgarian: светски (bg) (svetski)
• Finnish: (worldly) maailmallinen (fi), (earthly) maallinen (fi); (temporal) ajallinen (fi)
• German: diesseitig (de)
• Old English: flǣsċlīċ
• Portuguese: carnal (pt)
• Russian: земно́й (ru) (zemnój), мирской (ru) (mirskoj)
• Spanish: terrenal (es), mortal (es)

of or relating to the body or flesh

• Bulgarian: телесен (bg) (telesen)
• Catalan: carnal (ca)
• Esperanto: karna
• Finnish: (relating to the body) ruumiillinen (fi); (relating to the flesh) lihallinen (fi)
• Gothic: 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (leikeins)
• Old English: flǣsċlīċ
• Portuguese: carnal (pt)
• Russian: телесный (ru) (telesnyj), плотский (ru) (plotskij)
• Spanish: carnal (es), corporal (es)
• Welsh: cnawdol (cy)

Further reading

• “carnal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “carnal”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin carnālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [kərˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kaɾˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [karˈnal]

Adjective

carnal m or f (masculine and feminine plural carnals)

1. carnal (relating to the physical, especially sexual, appetites)
2. consanguineous (descending from the same ancestor)

   germà carnal

   blood brother

Related terms

• carn
• carnalitat

Further reading

• “carnal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “carnal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “carnal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “carnal”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /karˈnal/
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

carnal

1. carnal

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese carnal, from Latin carnālis (“of the flesh”), from carō (“flesh”). By surface analysis, carne +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaʁˈnaw/ [kaɦˈnaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaʁˈnaw/ [kaɦˈnaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kaɾˈnaw/ [kaɾˈnaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kaʁˈnaw/ [kaʁˈnaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /kaɻˈnaw/ [kaɻˈnaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐɾˈnal/ [kɐɾˈnaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐɾˈnal/ [kɐɾˈnaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐɾˈna.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: car‧nal

Adjective

carnal m or f (plural carnais)

1. carnal (relating to the physical, especially sexual, appetites)
2. (religion) carnal; earthly; worldly (concerned with human matters)

   Synonym: terreno

   Antonym: espiritual

3. consanguineous (descending from the same ancestor)

   Synonym: consanguíneo

   irmão carnal ― blood brother.

Derived terms

• carnalmente

Related terms

• carnalidade
• carnalizar
• carne

Further reading

• “carnal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “carnal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin carnalis. By surface analysis, carne +‎ -al.

Adjective

carnal m or n (feminine singular carnală, masculine plural carnali, feminine/neuter plural carnale)

1. fleshly
2. carnal

Declension

Declension of carnal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	carnal		carnală	carnali	carnale
	definite	carnalul		carnala	carnalii	carnalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	carnal		carnale	carnali	carnale
	definite	carnalului		carnalei	carnalilor	carnalelor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin carnālis (“fleshly, of the flesh”), from carō (“flesh”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaɾˈnal/ [kaɾˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: car‧nal

Adjective

carnal m or f (masculine and feminine plural carnales)

1. carnal (relating to the physical, especially sexual, appetites)

   Synonyms: sexual, libidinoso

2. consanguineous, by blood (related through birth)

   Synonym: consanguíneo

   • 1962, Julio Cortázar, “Simulacros”, in Historias de cronopios y de famas:

     Por ejemplo, el patíbulo, hasta hoy nadie se ha puesto de acuerdo sobre el origen de la idea, mi hermana la quinta afirma que fue uno de mis primos carnales, que son muy filósofos, pero mi tío el mayor sostiene que se le ocurió a él después de leer una novela de capa y espada.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• carnalmente

Noun

carnal m (plural carnales, feminine carnala, feminine plural carnalas)

1. (Mexico) ellipsis of hermano carnal (“brother by blood”); brother (in opposition to adopted or in-law)

Related terms

• carnalidad
• carne

Further reading

• “carnal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025